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Wine? You call this wine?

We went to visit relatives yesterday and after exchanging Christmas cards were offered a glass of wine. I should have been prepared, I am well aware that Auntie Barbara is on an economy drive and has taken to shopping in Tesco rather than M&S but didn't expect her newly discovered thriftiness would even tempt her to buy Tesco Hock. Eugh, even the name is revolting. The bottle screams 'I am cheeeeeeeeeap' and I wasn't surprised to discover that a 75cl bottle of this stuff costs well under £4, I remember Hock from my misspent youth (only stuff we could afford!) and hated it even then so I wasn't holding out much hope for this bottle which looked even more tacky than the no-brand Hock I used to consume.

And boy, is it a good job I didn't hold out much hope - as it saved me being disappointed and sickened by my first mouthful of Tesco's version. Jesus Christ, but this stuff is bad. It's harsh, has a strange tendency to be both incredibly bitter and bizarrely sweet at the same time and just tastes... nasty. It has a really cloying flavour which I'm positive would leave me gagging if I drunk it on a day where alcohol was simply not fancied - it's heavy and just plain 'ewwwwwwwwwww'.

I can't give a huge flowery description of various things I can taste within the wine (anti-freeze, bouquet of acidic chemicals?), other than to say that this feels like a very badly blended white wine. And that's it. No apple flavour, no fruity flavour, nothing. It's just wine. I can't imagine that anyone would ever be able to drink enough of this to get drunk, it's too sickly and lies far too heavily on your stomach for you to drink it quickly - and after Hock has been sitting in your glass for ten minutes it's warmed up the point where you feel like vomiting at the very thought of tasting it. I feel this is going to be a ridiculously short review as I've actually said all I can say about Tesco Hock now!

The screw top is naffer than naff, but then that just compliments the crappest wine bottle I have ever seen. When I poured my Aunt a second glass (she must have killed her taste buds off during a 45 year smoking habit) I noticed the top wouldn't screw back on perfectly tightly so guess Hock would lose its freshness pretty quickly, at this point I'd usually recommend pouring the unused wine into ice cube trays and freezing it - but who the hell would want to cook with this stuff?! Worlds worst Risotto anyone? If you really HAVE to drink Tesco's Hock then I'd suggest you drink as much as you like in one sitting and then pour the remainder down the sink - don't ever share it with anyone as host, or you risk your guests looking down on you as I now look down on Auntie Barbara.

I, erm, won't be a) buying Tesco Hock or b) recommending Tesco Hock. I'm not sure of the ABV but suspect it's around the 10% mark, although it tastes stronger - I looked it up on Tesco but the very basic listing doesn't give any details about the wine whatsoever, other than the price and unit size. Very helpful Tesco! Anyway, it's absolutely rank so I won't be buying it - if this is my Aunts idea of money saving then I pity her poor husband, wine is one of the LAST things you should 'go cheap' on. I hope she's not on the Lambrini next time I visit, although that is preferable to 'Hock'.

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Great for uni students, bad for everybody else.

Times are hard, there's a recession on, unemployment is high. Its times like these when you really need a stiff drink from time to time but because you're skint you can't afford to shell out for a nice £8 bottle of Pinot Grigio. You may find yourself drawn to the cheaper end of the wine aisle in Tesco and your eye might be caught by a £3 bottle of Tesco's own 'Hock'.

Walk away, walk away now, quickly, just don't do it!

Tesco's Hock was strangely popular back in my uni days, probably because the halls of residence were right by a huge Tesco and back then it was always on special offer. I don't think they're allowed to sell it as cheaply now as they did back then! Its a perfect student drink to be honest, one for gritting your teeth and getting on with chugging it down while trying as hard as you can to ignore the taste!

Its not the classiest looking bottle, a very plain label and a screw top, plus you can buy this wine in two sizes. The normal standard size doesn't look too bad, I mean I wouldn't want to bump into anybody I know while it was in my trolley but you could get away with pretending its perfectly normal socially acceptable wine. However the big fat obscene looking 'plus size' bottle puts you firmly in student territory, no point pretending its for anything other than getting drunk before heading out to the union!

Hock is obviously not the most sophisticated wine out there, I'm no wine buff and don't like to spend more than £5 or £6 on a bottle if I can help it but even I can't bring myself to buy this since I've graduated. Maybe its a psychological thing, unpleasant associations with awful hangovers and drunken mishaps. Its not something most people would choose to serve at a dinner party.

Hock is not a wine you buy for the taste, its weirdly bitter with a nasty aftertaste and there's a very specific screwed up face that most people make after taking a sip. I don't remember ever enjoying any of the substantial amounts of it I used to drink back in the day. While it is sweet, there is no discernable fruit flavour to it and it didn't have the substance and satisfying flavour of a decent medium dry white wine. I don't plan to buy it again in the near future, even though I'm now a student again, this is one part of the uni experience I won't be reliving!

I do hope I haven't offended any Hock lovers with this review!

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I have a terribly unsophisticated attitude when it comes to wine. Even if it's god awful I'll probably still drink it. Not because I want to get drunk or anything, just because it's there. In fact if I'm completely honest with you now, I think I don't drink enough of the stuff.

Hock is basically the only alcohol based drink that I can get a glass of. That's because of my Dads pure talent in winning a bottle each week at this folk club he likes to go to. Beards, banjos and beer. Not something I'd enjoy but there you go.

It has a screw top lid which I find is already a disadvantage because I'd rather have a go at using a cork screw than a metal cap. It comes with an alcohol volume of 9% and is made in Germany.

We serve it straight from the fridge, nice and cold. Usually having it with our roast dinner. It might be better if you don't have a drink of tea afterwards, sometimes it can leave a strange taste in your mouth which isn't that pleasant.

You could just drink it on its own as well. I do think it is quite refreshing even though it's not got a great flavour to it.

According to a valid source this is a medium wine. It is very sweet but it has also got a bit of sharpness to it, so I don't think it's the nicest of all of the wines that I've had a go at. At first it does take a bit of time to get used to, the second glass seems to always taste nicer than the first.

There are quite a few supermarkets which also have their own brand of hock but this is simply because it's our word for german wine.

When we occassionally buy it, because let's face it-it is cheap, it generally comes to the price of £2.59 but it does vary from time.

Once opened you should finish the bottle within 2 days.

In this case I do think you get what you pay for. When you are paying quite a lesser amount of money for something you shouldn't really complain about it not being up to your standards!

Overall it's decent enough, but I wouldn't bring it to someones house for a dinner party. Might get a few raised eyebrows!

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Dine with it.

While people consider of tasting wine, the German white wine will be the first to spark in their mind! Though there are quite several regions that will give you a grand wine production, Germany is a place to get fair quantity of wine and the flavor of wine is really tasty and flavorsome. German wine will vary from taste and type, where wine lovers can choice their kind of variety in an assorted range. German white wine is grandly popular all wide across the world and here are the popular varieties of white wine that are easy available in Germany.

This tesco variety has the punch and 9% alcohol content seemed to be adding a little bit of sharpness u know.It is not very sweet and ofcourse addsgives you a little dizzy effect overall it is fine for me.I think it is a tad expensive.It is gud to be served for dinner!!!

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Ah, time for another wine review! Of course, I hardly ever touch the stuff really, it's all in the name of research.. ;o) This time? The item under scrutiny is Tesco's Hock. As usual I have bought the large 3 litre box full of the stuff for about £7.50 but it is also available in standard (75cl) and large bottle sizes and is reasonably priced too - about £3.00 for the standard bottle. They've certainly spared every expense on the box design anyway! It looks a little cheap, admittedly, in simple brown and beige colours with a small castle on it but the contents are much nicer. Again this white wine is firmly on the sweet side of the tracks, a little sweeter than I normally like being a medium white drinker normally but it is very pleasant and drinkable. If anything I find it goes down rather quickly like a sweet soft drink would (hic)! It is described on the box as "medium sweet full-flavoured white wine with a rich fruity flavour". I would argue that it is a little more than medium sweet although it is fruity and the aroma is very sweet which indicates its flavour well. Produced in Germany, Hock is an old, widely available classic very similar to Liebfraumilch in both taste and sweetness. It is produced in the Rhein region of Germany and takes its name from its originating town of Hocheim. On the dry to sweet scale (1-9) it ranks a 5, again as Liebfraumilch generally does, so if you prefer a drier wine you will probably find this far too sweet. It is marginally too sweet for my taste but makes a nice tipple on its own or with a more savoury, spicy dish to counteract the flavours. The box label recommends it for parties and barbecues too, best serve chilled of course, as with most white wines. The alcohol content is 9.0% volume so it is not a particularly strong wine and therefore a whole bottle, if your constitution is the same as mine, leaves you mildly happy but nothing more! So if you're looking for something to get the party going this may prove a little too sweet and weak!